Lifetimes
by TingedAutumn
Summary: Thirty glimpses into the lives of Frank Longbottom and Alice Prewett, based on thirty different prompts.
1. Beginnings

**A/N:** I decided to do the 30 Days of Writing challenge, with a prompt every day, and chose to do the prompts centered around my OTP 5EVA, Fralice (mostly because there is an appalling lack of Fralice fics out there). Some of these drabbles will be rated M, and pretty much all of them will involve fluff and adorableness.

_Prompt: Beginning.  
Rating: K_

* * *

Frank Longbottom is not a ladies' man.

At twelve years old, Frank Longbottom is all gangly arms and uncoordinated limbs. His hair is often depressingly limp and he tends to make wry, sarcastic comments that no one quite understands until a few hours later. Although this endears him to the Gryffindor boys, it doesn't really help with the girls who flock around his friends.

This is a bit of a problem, because at twelve, Frank Longbottom is really starting to like girls.

He likes their smell, which is often far more pleasant than the rough, sweaty scent that engulfs the boy's dormitory. He likes how they flick their hair over their shoulders and the way they laugh, and he especially likes how they fill out their school uniforms.

(He's twelve, not a Saint).

Alice is the only one who counsels him to patience. Unlike Sirius or James, who like to tease Frank about his zero for zero track record, Alice is the one who reminds him of his many wonderful traits, and often bakes him cookies when the encouragement doesn't work.

"Don't rush into it, Frank," She tells him every time he slinks into the library, a pout blossoming on his face. "Your perfect girl is right around the corner, I just _know_ it."

Since Alice Prewett never lies (Frank is almost entirely convinced she lacks the ability to do so), he believes her. He's known Alice for a few years, since their dads work in the Ministry together, and Alice is the person you just want to confide in. She's sweet and generous, but always up for a laugh; she loves everyone, and she's always got a smile and a treat for anyone who needs it. She's very pretty, too, although she's a good foot or two shorter than Frank, and she's got the biggest, brownest eyes Frank has ever seen. She reminds him a bit of Bambi, with those eyes, actually. Her smile is his favourite feature, though: it's like a lightbulb, instantly dazzling the room, and Frank spends quite a bit of time thinking of ways to get her to smile for him.

It doesn't really come as a shock, then, when Frank wakes up one morning and realizes he's completely in love with Alice Prewett.

"You're right, Al," He tells her at breakfast, a few days after this revelation. "My perfect girl _was_ right around the corner."

She beams at him, and he thinks that this is the beginning of a long, long lifetime of those beautiful smiles.


	2. Accusation

**A/N:** Sorry this took so long! Life went ahead and punched me right in the face. I'm not happy with this chapter, so I'll probably rewrite it at some point, but for now, here's the next prompt.

_Prompt: Accusation.  
Rating: T_

* * *

"What exactly are you implying, here?"

Alice stands with her hands on her hips, and for such a small person, it's remarkable how fierce she looks. She has the Prewett eyes: sweet and friendly, and ready to cut you to the quick when you've done something wrong. Frank, at least two feet higher than her, tries not to cower before her hidden temper.

"It's not an implication, it's a simple question, Al."

"I don't like the question."

"I don't like Care of Magical Creatures, but you don't see me avoiding it."

A small crease appears in Alice's forehead, and Frank recognizes it as a sign that Alice is shifting rapidly from mere annoyance to actual anger. Normally, Frank would have apologized profusely by now, and they'd be snogging or doing homework. Or mostly just snogging. In any case, Frank would certainly not be pushing the issue, but damn it all, he's annoyed, too, he wants answers, and he refuses to just smooth everything over and throw it under the rug. Frank is a lot of things, but a pushover, he is not.

He crosses his arms over his chest and matches her gaze, and it's like electricity passes between them, their stares are so intense. Alice is the one to break first, which gives Frank a small sense of satisfaction; it doesn't last long, of course.

"I thought you trusted me."

"I do trust you. Which is why I don't understand why you won't answer my question."

"Because it's a stupid question, and it's none of your business!"

"Our relationship _is_ my business!" Frank retorts, temper flaring. "Dammit, Alice, this isn't playtime anymore, these kinds of things have consequences -"

Alice's temper breaks like a poorly-tuned string on a violin, and she bristles like a cat. "Because I'm willing to do something, I'm suddenly being stupid? What's the point of being an Auror if you're going to sit on the sidelines and watch?" And before he can answer - not that he has anything at the ready - Alice stomps up the stairs and disappears into the girls dormitory.

* * *

"Wotcher, Francine."

Frank scowls into the sunny face of Marlene McKinnon, stabbing his spoon into his porridge with particular vehemence. It's the day after his fight with Alice, and she hasn't spoken a word to him. She's actually gone to great lengths to avoid him, and it's grating Frank's nerves to the point of snapping. He had briefly considered skiving off his lessons, but he's not interested in McGonagall hunting him down and forcing him into detention.

"It's Frank, Marls," He reminds her, but there's no particular sting behind his words. Marlene is Alice's best friend, yes, but she's also been the one to root for the two of them. Frank considers her a sister more than anything else, and he's relied on her for help in terms of her best friend more than once. "Morning."

"Morning, sunshine. You look like hell, what's up?" Marlene reaches over and snitches a piece of bacon from his plate.

"Like you don't already know."

"I don't, actually."

Frank looks up, surprised. "Alice hasn't said anything?"

"Alice hasn't said much to anyone since last night. I've assumed she's either failed her Potions again, or she had a fight with you. Since the dungeons are intact, I deduced it was a matter of the heart. So here I am." Marlene downed a glass of orange juice and shot Frank a grin. He arched a brow in reply.

"'_Deduced_ ', huh? Fancy talk for you, McKinnon."

"Fancy talk for fancy folk. You gonna tell me what's wrong, or am I going to have to do this the hard way?"

He briefly thought about toying with her, but his heart wasn't in it. "I caught Alice trying to sneak out the other night, and accused her of being reckless."

"Nice."

"I'm serious! It was funny in third year, but things have gotten really serious, Marls. It's not safe to be wandering the grounds at night."

"Do you think she was going to go see Max?" Marlene asked, referring to Alice's hospital-ridden father.

"Probably. She wouldn't tell me. Then we got shirty with each other, and she stormed off, and we haven't spoken since yesterday. It's driving me mad."

Marlene stole another piece of bacon, biting into it, her expression thoughtful. "I don't think I have to tell you that was a stupid thing to do."

"No, really?" The sarcasm in Frank's voice practically took a life of it's own. Marlene glared at him.

"Cut the sass, mister, I'm serious. Alice wouldn't do something dangerous like that, she knows it's dangerous."

"Then she's cheating on me."

Marlene smacked him across the head, sending Frank reeling forward, nearly dunking his face in his porridge. "Don't talk stupid. Look, why don't you let her cool off, let her enjoy her Herbology class, and then go and talk to her. Apologize for being an ass, ask her to understand where you're coming from, snog, everything's fine."

"You make it sound easy," Frank complained, rubbing the back of his head. "Have you ever considered life might not work out the way you want it to?"

Marlene smiled serenely. "Never."

* * *

He took Marlene's advice, despite himself, and waited for Alice outside of Greenhouse 3 right before the bell for dinner rang. He had been running over his apology in his head for the last ten minutes, trying to make it sound less defensive and failing miserably. Was it so wrong to want to know why your girlfriend was sneaking out of your dorm at two in the morning? Wasn't it worth asking, to make sure everything was okay? Why did he have to be the bad guy in this scenario?

The bell rang, and Frank's stomach lurched. Straightening up, he watched the greenhouse doors open and the students pour out, many of them calling out greetings to him as they passed. He waved back, his attention concentrating on the blond who had just stepped outside.

To her credit, Alice didn't look for an escape route or a way to get past him. She strode right up to him, her expression blank. Merlin, he hated when they fought.

He smiled tentatively, and stuck his hands in his pockets, rocking on the balls of his feet, feeling awkward and hopeless, the First Year in love with his best friend all over again. "Hey, Al. Got a minute?"

"Of course."

Good sign. Frank took a deep breathe. "Look ... about last night."

"No, Frank, actually -"

_Here it comes_ , he thought, and braced himself.

"I'm really sorry."

"Alice, I know you're upset, but ... wait, what?"

He paused in his rocking, giving her a gobsmacked expression; Alice smiled, slightly. "I said I was sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. You're right, you had every right to ask me what was going on. I guess I was on edge and just took everything you said the wrong way."

"It's not all your fault," Frank protested, happiness ballooning in his chest at this favourable change in fortunes. "I shouldn't have been so accusatory. You're right, I do trust you. If you say everything is okay, everything is okay."

Alice beamed, and Frank felt like dancing. There were few things he hated more than fighting with Alice, and now it seemed as if this one was going to blow right over. "So, uhm, Al, now that we're, y'know, okay now, can I just ask ... where _were_ you going at two in the morning?"

Alice gave him a long, considering look, and he held breath, afraid he might have pushed his luck. After a minute, Alice smiled again, and he relaxed.

"Well, I was going to give it to you tomorrow, but since I'll probably be spending the rest of tonight apologizing for our fight, I'll give it to you now." She rummaged in her bag, and then pulled out a container of what looked like food, which she handed to Frank. Curiously, Frank opened the lid, and laughed aloud at the dozens of cookies, decorated with Quaffles, magic sparks, and the numbers of Frank's favourite Quidditch players.

"Happy early birthday, Longbottom," Alice announced, and pulled him down by his tie to give him that long-awaited snog.


End file.
